October 2015 Summaries

Société Générale and GitHub are organizing a meetup at Société Générale's headquarters in Paris, La Défense, on November 12th, featuring discussions on how the bank has leveraged GitHub Enterprise for enhanced collaboration over the past two years. The event aims to connect business with technology builders and will include presentations from representatives of Société Générale, Delicious Insights, and GitHub. Talks will cover topics such as developer success stories, collaboration best practices using Git and GitHub, and the evolving connection between business and technology. The meetup is open to the public, but attendees are encouraged to register in advance due to limited space.

Careful concurrency management is crucial for maintaining a responsive user interface in GitHub Desktop, a native application for Mac and Windows, which utilizes both libgit2 and the git command line to interact with repositories. Due to the inherent differences in how git and libgit2 handle concurrency—with git using pessimistic locks and libgit2 not being inherently thread-safe—the development team devised a novel concurrency model to handle asynchronous operations using Microsoft’s Reactive Extensions and ReactiveCocoa. This model categorizes operations as either concurrent or exclusive, utilizing an AsyncReaderWriterLock to manage these operations and ensure they execute safely without data corruption. By organizing tasks into units of work and executing them as atomic operations, GitHub Desktop ensures that complex tasks can be performed without compromising the application’s responsiveness or the integrity of the repositories. This approach addresses previous stability and performance issues, preventing race conditions and maintaining a high level of concurrency control.

GitHub has opened a new office in Amsterdam and is celebrating with two events aimed at engaging the local and visiting tech community. The first event, GitHub Patchwork, is scheduled for October 28, 2015, at WeWork in Amsterdam, designed as an informal, hands-on workshop for beginners to learn Git and GitHub with the aid of community mentors. Participants will gain practical experience, including making their first pull request. The second event, a GitHub Meetup on October 29 at B. Amsterdam, offers a talk on "Git and GitHub Secrets," along with food, drinks, and networking opportunities with GitHub enthusiasts and open-source developers. Both events are free, with the Patchwork event requiring an RSVP, while the Meetup is open without registration.

Epic Games is organizing a comprehensive Unreal Engine 4 workshop for mobile developers at GitHub Headquarters on November 5th, which will cover topics such as creating 2D and 3D content, developing mobile VR experiences, and exploring the future of mobile technology with Metal and Vulkan. The event will also include discussions on managing large files like textures and sounds using Git LFS. Interested participants are encouraged to register early due to limited seating, with further details available on the registration page. The workshop is highlighted by Lee Reilly, a Senior Program Manager at GitHub, known for supporting developer communities and organizing events.

Patchwork Charlotte is hosting a hack night event on October 28, co-sponsored with Industry, aimed at beginners interested in learning Git and GitHub through a hands-on, self-directed workshop. The event, featuring GitHub staff and local mentors, promises an informal atmosphere where attendees can progress at their own pace, complete a "Hello World" tutorial, and achieve their first merged Pull Request, all without prior coding experience. Participants are encouraged to RSVP as either attendees or mentors, with the latter having the opportunity to guide newcomers in contributing to open source projects. The event, held at Industry in Charlotte, will provide food, refreshments, and ensures accessibility for all attendees.

Git Large File Storage (Git LFS), an open-source project designed to manage large assets with Git, has achieved a 1.0 milestone and is now accessible to all GitHub.com repositories, with support for GitHub Enterprise included in its version 2.4 release. Git LFS integrates seamlessly with GitHub's interface, allowing users to manage large files alongside other repository files without disruption. This integration extends to GitHub Desktop, where Git LFS is fully supported, enabling users to commit and sync with ease, and to the command line, where Git LFS functions as a natural extension of Git commands. Users can manage large files by using Git LFS tracking rules specified in the .gitattributes file, and the tool provides features like batch uploading and selective asset fetching to enhance workflow efficiency. Git LFS documentation, video demonstrations, and talks at GitHub Universe offer further insights and details about this tool, supporting developers in optimizing their Git workflows.

GitHub Enterprise 2.4 introduces a host of new features and updates designed to enhance user control and flexibility while maintaining secure and efficient workflows. Key highlights include improved administration of protected branches with enforced status checks, more customizable organization permissions, and simplified asset management through Git Large File Storage. The release also offers enhanced GitHub Pages functionality, allowing public sites even within private instances, and introduces the jekyll-feed plugin for automatic feed generation. Users can benefit from automatic updates for new features, security patches, and bug fixes to keep their instance current. Additionally, GeoJSON support now allows interactive map rendering directly within GitHub Enterprise, while the introduction of FIDO Universal 2nd Factor authentication enhances security measures. These updates aim to provide a more robust, flexible, and secure experience for GitHub Enterprise users.

GitHub Enterprise is designed to be a low-maintenance tool with robust security features that can be quickly set up for developers, emphasizing the importance of following certain security practices to ensure a secure installation without hindering collaboration. Key security measures include safeguarding the Enterprise Management Console password, enabling Private Mode to protect repositories from unauthorized access, and implementing subdomain isolation to prevent vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting. Enhanced monitoring capabilities, such as activity graphs and audit logs, provide administrators with insights into the instance's health and security. Authentication methods like restricted user groups and Universal Second Factor Authentication (U2F) offer additional security layers, allowing administrators to fine-tune access control and monitor usage effectively. GitHub's organizational features also help secure installations by enabling granular access control at the team and repository levels. The post encourages administrators to reach out for support and guidance to maintain a secure and efficient GitHub Enterprise environment.

GitHub Universe, a two-day conference held at Pier 70, brought together developers worldwide to discuss software development, collaboration, and deployment, featuring an animated short of the octocat created by the GitHub creative team. CEO Chris Wanstrath announced enhancements to GitHub's platform, including a partnership with Yubico to support FIDO Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) for better account security, and introduced an Integrations Directory to seamlessly use tools like Travis-CI and Slack with GitHub. The conference also highlighted Git Large File Storage (LFS), which facilitates the handling of large files by replacing them with text pointers while storing the content remotely. The event was supported by 13 sponsors, providing food, coffee, and art installations, and sessions were made available online for wider access, with plans for the event to continue next year.

GitHub Enterprise has enhanced its release process by adopting what it calls "Runnable Documentation," which consists of step-by-step instructions that can be executed by anyone without specialized knowledge. This approach aims to distribute and automate knowledge, reducing the risks associated with having a single point of failure within an organization. Initially, the knowledge was concentrated in one individual but was documented into a repository, similar to an "initial commit" of legacy code. Through trial runs, GitHub refined this documentation by identifying unnecessary steps and clarifying others, while resisting the temptation to automate prematurely. Eventually, the process was optimized to reduce redundancy and combine steps where possible, though automation was only partially feasible due to the complexity of the release process. GitHub employs ChatOps to facilitate semi-automation, allowing commands to be executed in a chat application, thereby enhancing accessibility and efficiency. This methodology has improved the speed and quality of releases, enabling more team members to participate effectively in the release process.

The Octopolo Shirt, designed for those who wish to approach business with utmost seriousness, is now available for purchase from the GitHub Shop. This shirt aims to cater to the need for a professional appearance in a business setting, reflecting the commitment to serious business endeavors. Authored by Brandi Firestine, the announcement underscores the blend of style and functionality that the Octopolo Shirt promises to deliver.

Patchwork Houston is hosting a hack night on October 15 at the Houston Public Library during the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, aimed at beginners looking to learn Git and GitHub. Organized by GitHub staff and local mentors, this informal, hands-on workshop provides a supportive environment for attendees to complete the Hello World tutorial, create their first open-source project, and achieve their first merged pull request, all without needing prior coding experience. The event encourages newcomers to engage with the open-source community while offering experienced mentors an opportunity to guide and inspire future contributors, ensuring participants leave with new skills, connections, and confidence. Attendees and mentors are encouraged to RSVP, and the event is wheelchair-accessible, with food and refreshments provided.

GitHub's new Integrations Directory offers a comprehensive selection of developer tools designed to enhance the GitHub platform and streamline development workflows by connecting various software tools to GitHub for comprehensive project management. These integrations allow developers to customize their workflows by incorporating functionalities from text editors, IDEs, project management systems, CI/CD services, and more, enabling sophisticated operations like deploying software, tracking analytics, and addressing runtime issues. Authored by GitHub's COO Kyle Daigle, who has a rich history in scaling GitHub's ecosystem and leading its AI adoption strategy, the directory is a reflection of GitHub's commitment to being a developer-first company. Kyle, who has been with GitHub since 2013, is deeply invested in maintaining GitHub's culture and expanding its capabilities, while also engaging in personal interests such as home automation and technology accessibility through nonprofit work.

Git Large File Storage (Git LFS) has reached its 1.0 milestone and is now available for all repositories on GitHub.com, following months of testing by early adopters. This open-source Git extension was initially released to integrate large binary files into Git workflows, addressing the limitations of distributed version control systems like Git in handling large files. Git LFS achieves this by replacing large files with text pointers in Git, while the actual file contents are stored on a remote server such as GitHub.com. The milestone includes community-driven features and fixes, such as a rewritten HTTP client and API specification to improve file transfer efficiency, new commands for faster object downloads, customizable download options, selective directory ignoring, and enhanced push functionality to reduce commit scan time. Additionally, Git LFS now offers a Windows installer and Linux packages for easier installation, along with an experimental extension system for teams to customize server storage methods. Users can access Git LFS by installing the client, enabling them to manage large files more effectively in their Git workflows.

GitHub has expanded its authentication system to support the FIDO Universal 2nd Factor (U2F), an open standard that enhances security against phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks using public key cryptography. The U2F standard allows for a seamless user experience without the need for additional software, as it is natively supported by most platforms and browsers. Users are encouraged to integrate U2F into their applications for stronger security, and GitHub has partnered with Yubico, a leading provider of U2F authenticators, to offer discounts on YubiKeys. While a limited edition of U2F Security Keys was initially available for $5, GitHub users can now benefit from a 20% discount on U2F-certified YubiKeys, with an additional discount for students eligible for the Student Developer Pack. To utilize U2F, users must purchase a hardware key from various vendors, and further details on implementation can be found in GitHub’s U2F documentation.

GitHub Universe attendees at Pier 70 have the opportunity to earn merit badges by completing specific tasks before 3 pm on Friday, with the chance to win prizes sponsored by Twilio. Participants can earn the Build badge by introducing themselves to a stranger and tweeting a photo using the hashtag #exploreuniverse, the Collaborate badge by contributing a sticker in the obliteration room and sharing a picture on Twitter, and the Deploy badge by tweeting a creative project idea involving Twilio and GitHub. Upon completion, participants can pick up their badges at an iron-on station and enter a prize draw for an iPad Mini 4, a Sphero, and an Amazon gift card, with winners announced on Twitter at 3:30 pm on the second day of the conference.